Spellbinding Screen Witches.

Halloween is on the horizon, so I thought I would compile a list of those spellbinding sorcerers , the winsome and the wicked, who have appeared on the big screen ( and the small screen) over the years. Do you remember these magical movies and tv shows?

Hocus Pocus (1993). Three witch sisters are resurrected and cause hilarious havoc one Halloween. They like to sing, dance and eat the odd child or two.. Look out for SJP before her transformation into Sex and the city’s fashionista Carrie Bradshaw.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005).
Tilda Swinton is the powerful white witch Jadis in the 2005 Narnia movie. She manages to portray her as both ethereal and evil.

The Wizard Of Oz (1939). Probably the most iconic Witch of all, the Wicked Witch of the West ( Margaret Hamilton in lurid green makeup) truelly terrifies with her evil cackle and flying monkeys. Hide those ruby slippers Dorothy.

The Craft(1996). Teenage supernatural movie centreing on four high school outcasts who form a coven and cast spells to get revenge on the people who have wronged them. Things soon spiral out of control. Fairuza Balk who plays the rather nasty Nancy apparently became a wiccan in real life.

Bewitched( TV series 1964-1972). A beautiful witch marries a mortal man and agrees not to use her magical powers in their everyday life……but often finds she cannot resist. With a twitch of her lovely nose ,Samantha can’t help but try and save the day, especially if her interfering Mother visits( another witch) or Darrin ( her hubby) needs a helping hand. They are joined later in the show’s run by baby witch Tabitha. Happy families!

The Witches of Eastwick(1987). Jack Nicholson plays a mysterious warlock who moves to the town of Eastwick and sets about seducing three friends , who become his coven. Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pheiffer play the sexy witches to be.

I married a witch(1942). Charming supernatural romantic comedy starring Veronica lake as the reincarnated bewitching Jennifer, intent on having her revenge on the ancestor of the man who originally had her burned at the stake. Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks(1971).
Angela Lansbury plays ‘Miss Price’, an apprentice witch , who reluctantly takes in three child evacuees during World War 2. The children soon find themselves on a magical adventure, involving a flying bed and an adundence of animated characters, as they search for a way to save the country from invasion.

Charmed(Tv series 1998-2004). The Halliwell sisters are three powerful witches known as The Charmed Ones. In the show they battle demons and save innocents, whilst juggling their magical powers with the trials and tribulations of everyday life in modern day San Francisco.

Bell, Book and Candle ( 1958). Gillian, a sorceress in a rut, living in New York with her familiar ( a siamese cat called Pyewacket 🙂 ), casts a spell on a man she’s just met to fall in love with her. But the problem is…. she soon finds herself falling for him, for real. And witches who fall in love with mortals risk losing their powers. Kim Novak and James Stewart star in this spell binding rom com.

Harry Potter Films. We all know and love the good witches who passed through Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. The most evil and loyal follower of Voldemort however was the evil Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange. In the films she first appears in The Order of the Phoenix and is played by the wonderful Helena Bonham Carter.

The Witches(1990). A young boy on holiday in a seaside hotel finds out that the ‘Royal Society for the prevention of cruelty to children’ convention being held there, is actually a witches get together. Angelica Huston plays the Grand High Witch demanding that all Englands children must be destroyed…..or turned into mice. Roald Dahls witchy tale is given the big screen treatment.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch( Tv series 1996-2003). Sabrina discovers she is a half witch on her 16th birthday and madcap magic follows.She is taught how to use her new powers by her two six hundred year old aunts and their black cat Salem. Sabrina has to learn to Juggle high school with hocus pocus, often with hilarious results.

Snow White and the seven dwarfs(1937). The Wicked Queen , jealous of Snow Whites beauty ,uses witchcraft to transform herself into an old hag and gives our heroine a poisoned apple. Lots of Snow White adaptations. This is the Disney
original of the brothers Grimm fairytale.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series 1997-2003). Ok Buffy was a mean kick ass vampire slayer, but remember her best mate Willow? She became an extremely powerful witch as the series went on. I think a Buffy fest is on the cards!

Practical Magic(1998). Sisters, Sally and Gillian Owens ( played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) are witches with not your average relationship problems. Any mortal men they take up with are doomed to an untimely death. The feisty Gillian meets an evil demon,who’m the ladies have to vanquish…..but he keeps coming back to life! And Sally finds herself drawn to a dishy cop whose investigating the case. Toil and trouble in this entertaining witchy chick flick.

Maleficent(2014). I have yet to see this classic retelling of Sleeping Beauty,told from the perspective of the villianess Maleficent. Angelina Jolie certainly looks magnificent in the part though. 🙂

Hope you have enjoyed my list and its certainly inspired me to dig out a few of the films/shows mentioned here. Who is your favourite Screen Witch? What will be on your Witchy Watch list this October? Let me know.:-D

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